Hi all! Another quick update via proxy (Jon) to let you know the team is doing well and accomplishing lots! Unfortunately, they've been encountering some technical difficulties as of late, causing some issues with regular postings. They hope to be able to return to posting regularly as soon as possible though :)
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The day began with an excellent breakfast of Chipata (thick, deep fried crepe), hard boiled eggs, and instant pure African coffee. With fuel in our bellies, we set off with excitement to the build site at Bishop Kisare Technical School. After a quick look around, we got started right away carrying the 25 pound bricks a distance of about 150 meters from the production location to the foundation of the new classroom building. Spirits and energy were high! The bricks are a new kind of brick, not used on a build site before, made with plastic molds that result in a product looking much like a Lego brick. This new brick style is lighter, and allows for electrical and plumbing lines to be run through the hollow centres of the bricks. As we began to build the walls of the classroom, our veteran Lego builder, Jack, quickly recognized that there was a right way and a wrong way to lay the bricks. Overcoming language barriers Jack, along with the Fundi (site foreman), and some help with translating through Fred, solved the problem, and the walls began to take shape. After some brick laying, and sanding of the end seams with rocks, the next stage of the build needed to take place. Two 20 foot sea containers needed to be moved a distance of about 200 metres to become the end walls of the classroom. Fred had tried to arrange to rent a crane from the local hydro company, but they were away on another job, so problem solving for Plan B began! Plan B Plan B was a result of one of Fred Otieno's many Shirati connections. He was able to rent a medium sized four wheel drive John Deere tractor and it was used to drag the containers from their location on the school grounds to the foundation floor of the new classroom building. The driver that came with the tractor was a bit rambunctious, so Fred asked if Terry would consider driving it for the sensitive task of placing the containers without knocking down the new walls. And Terry's answer? But of course! So the interesting process of carefully pushing and pulling the container with a wooden beam or a chain began, with up to 15 different bosses yelling "Go" or "Stop" at the same time. Despite the confusion of many commands, the containers were positioned properly. I am pleased to say that no limbs or lives were lost during the placement of the containers, even though the original driver knocked two observers/helpers off the side of the foundation when he forgot that the tractor was still in gear and released the clutch!. Meanwhile, back at the compound where all the Days For Girls (DFG) suitcases were being stored, Jane, Corliss and Leisha went through each of them separating the DFG kits from the mix of tools, backpacks, and other supplies that we added to them to let us bring more materials while staying under 50 lbs per bag. Leisha's children Wesley (Gr.3) and Inno (Gr. 9) were very helpful at counting kits out loud together and making sure all items sorted in each case were the same size and editing the numbers stated on the labels of each suitcase in preparation for our first distribution to occur on Wednesday As you can see by the photos, we had an extremely positive day. Can't wait for tomorrow! The foundation at our start Jack, Corliss, Terry removing brick Brick transport molds from the brick Doug and Terry volume carry! Lego Jack! Wesley, Inno, Tammy, Terry Precision placement Jane and Inno Counting DFG kits End of Day bird view!
We left our overnight lodging at 7:30 am to do a final bit of game drive and then head to Shirati but as we drove, our guide Mouro asked when we actually needed to be at Shirati. Terry suggested we had some flexibility, so Mouro asked if we wanted to go a different way out of the Park. We agreed and it gave us a great look at some very different topography, as well as an amazing view of part of The Great Migration. (500 km trek each way by many of the Serengeti grazing wildlife as they follow the rainy season from south Tanzania to Kenya and back each year) We saw 1000's of wildebeasts, many pacing back and forth at the edge of the Mara River where they have to swim across to continue their trek to Masa Mara Game Park in Kenya. As we were driving around, hoping to see the wildebeasts begin a crossing, a lone water buffalo took interest in our van and began to stalk us. Apparently they can be very aggressive when they are alone, so we didn't stick around to meet him! We didn't see a crossing but some people come and will wait for days to see one. I can imagine it would be breathtaking, but we couldn't stay. Our route was one less traveled (we covered it in 2015) so mostly it was tracks in the grass and we saw very few other safari vans. It was certainly worth the extra 90 kilometres or so, and we thought it would delay us by at least 90 minutes, but we discovered a shortcut even Mouro hadn;t heard of before and it saved us that time and more, getting us in to Shirati early! Our arrival was one of great celebration for Terry and Jane as they re-connected with some of the people they have met and worked with on previous visits. Since August 12 is Jane's birthday, we celebrated at supper with a cake provided by Leisha Otieno, baked in Mwanza and transported the five hour drive to Shirati for the party! Tomorrow its on to the work projects. Sunset photo at our Lodge Team Shirati 2019 at Lodge Team Shirati with our guide Wildebeasts at Mara river Zebras at Mara river Off the beaten track ditching the angry water buffalo! Fred and Leisha and family The birthday girl! "The road less travelled"
After spending about 2 hours in Ngorongoro Crater yesterday looking for animals, (we saw over 35 giraffes in one group!) we needed to get moving to reach our night lodging in Serengeti Game Reserve. The road was long with a lot of bumps (Tanzanian massage?). Our driver drove as fast as the bumps would allow, but we were still bounced around a lot. We did see zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, a few elephants, ostriches and others in Ngorongoro, but our main day for game hunting was today in the Serengeti as we had all day to do it. We spent the morning looking for big cats and wow, were we successful! We saw a leopard cross the road right in front of us, we saw a cheetah that had made a fresh kill trying to eat it and then get challenged and chased away by two baboons, saw at least a dozen lions, two more leopards, over 50 hippos, some more giraffes, many elephants, and of course more zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, antelopes, and various types of gazelles. Tomorrow (Monday) we will leave after an early breakfast to spend an hour or so looking for more game (maybe a rhino, have never seen one in the wild) and head out of the park on our way to Shirati. No wifi enroute, and probably not available our first day at Shirati either, so I am not sure when our next post will be. We look forward to seeing our Shirati friends, especially Fred and Leisha Otieno our Project co-ordinators in Tanzania. Leisha runs a charity called Mama Maisha which focuses on women's hygiene, safe pregnancy, and healthy delivery for every mother and child. Fred is the former Community Development officer with the Kanisa Mennonite diocese in Shirati who used to live in Shirati, and has many great connections and vision when it comes to projects like the Bishop Kisare Technical School classrooms that we are helping to build. Tuesday is our first planned workday at the Tech School using the new hollow cement bricks made from our newly purchased plastic molds. Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers and support. Female baboon (front left) Hippo path from water Three lionesses
Male baboon (rear left) with cheetah to grazing area catching some rays Yes, we are so grateful that all the 15 pieces of luggage made it. The whole customs area at the Kilimanjaro airport has been upgraded and even though the procedure pretty much still resembles a stampede, there was some sense of organization. Although we ended up being the last ones through the queue, there was no sense of futility!
When the Health Inspector asked what we were bringing in all those suitcases, and I explained about Days for Girls (DFG), he became interested and was very concerned that all the components were new and not used. Jane assured him that everything was new and showed him the DFG Kitchener website which has her and Katie Hamm's picture on it distributing kits in Shirati in 2017.The photo seemed to give us credibility and he became very supportive making it smooth sailing after that. We spent that first night at the hostel of the wife and husband who organized our safari and it was wonderful. We had a four course meal at 11:30 pm, and then a great sleep in very comfortable beds, followed by an amazing breakfast this morning consisting of eggs, crepes, toast, tasty Tanzanian bacon (looks like a weiner) and fantastic local fresh fruit. Our Safari began today and you can see us at the entrance to Ngorongoro Crater Park. More info and photos tomorrow! Hello everyone! Just a quick note via proxy (Jon) that the team has landed safely in Kilimanjaro with all 15 pieces of luggage! As of the time of this message, they are preparing to meet up for supper following a great day of safari at the Ngorongoro crater. I believe they hope to post another update when they get the chance/wifi :)
An uneventful flight! Yeah!! Just sitting at our gate for the next leg of our journey which is an 8 plus hour flight to Kilimanjaro. We are seated throughout the plane and not together, so the Shirati Project Team will spread our message even further this morning. That seems to be one of the silver linings of our delay so far. We have shared our story with a lot of interested folks, with one woman from Germany asking where she could donate to Days for Girls.
Kilimanjaro airport will be interesting as we need to guide our herd of 15 suitcases (we trust that they will join us in Kili!) through Tanzania Customs which typically is set up in "stampede" mode. Any kind of an organized line up has been a pipe dream in the past. We need to purchase Business Visas, meet and pay the Days for Girls driver to take the 9 non personal suitcases to Shirati, convert our American cash to Tanzanian shillings, meet our Safari driver and drive to our hotel in Arusha for supper and sleep. The Safari will start Saturday morning, a day later than originally planned. We expect to work on the next Saturday so that we don't lose a work day on the Project. Time to board! Its 2:14 am, just getting into our hotel room in Boston after a 75 minute taxi ride from the airport. Yes, Boston. Well, actually, Marlborough. A huge storm shut down the Boston airport in the afternoon, just before we were to take off from Toronto. The delay, including over 90 minutes on the tarmac, lasted long enough to force us to book a later flight to Amsterdam (18:55 instead of 16:57) but even that ended up being too early. The last flight of the evening out of Boston was a KLM flight that was delayed to 21:15 but we didn't quite make that one either.
We had fun trying as you can see on the video. Delta Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines tried to play "He said,she said" and were sending us back and forth from terminal to terminal eating up the precious little time we had, causing us to miss the last flight too! We are now booked on the Thursday 18:55 flight to Amsterdam, so we will get to Kilimanjaro 24 hours later than planned. We aren't sure what that means for our Safari. I guess we will find out later today after Fred Otieno gets our message about the delay. Terry spent a lot of time on the phone negotiating and cajoling without eventual success. Despite the disappointment of the missed flight, spirits are high. Hotel, food, and taxi vouchers courtesy of Delta Airlines were much appreciated! It really was an amazing day, with some excellent conversations with people from Scotland, Italy, New Hampshire, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and others. A midnight supper of Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwiches, oatmeal and bagels by the luggage carousel followed by the previously mentioned taxi ride ended the crazy day. . We can't wait to see what other adventures will await as we again attempt to cross the "pond." We hope the 15 bags of luggage can keep up with us. Stay tuned! Cut and paste the link below for a short video clip https://photos.app.goo.gl/ndHqPLjXufT6Luku8 Most of the 15 suitcases fit on the back of the truck, but not quite all of them. 50 lbs is the weight limit per bag or you pay additional fees. Using a hand held spring scale until it broke, then using a bathroom scale to weigh the rest of the bags, we were slightly apprehensive about what the WestJet scale would say. It said - 3 bags @ 50 lbs, 3 bags @ 48 lbs, one bag @ 54 lbs, and one bag @44 lbs! The three extra bags were covered under the WestJet "Humanitarian Aid" baggage policy so there was no extra cost to ship them. We won't see them now until Kilimanjaro Thursday night and we are just fine with that! Boarding for the first leg of the trip (Boston) begins in 45 minutes.
Departure from Toronto 13:35 Terminal 3 via WestJet (for Delta Airlines)
arriving in Boston at 15:28 Departure from Boston 16:57 via Delta Airlines arriving in Amsterdam Thursday Aug. 8 at 5:50 (6 hours ahead of Ontario time) Departure from Amsterdam 10:35 via KLM Royal Dutch Airlines arriving in Kilimanjaro at 19:55 (7 hours ahead of Ontario time) After landing, we must clear customs, which will take awhile with all of our bags!!, exchange some of our US dollars to Tanzanizan shillings, and then transport to our hotel in Arusha for supper. The driver who will take the 9 Days for Girls suitcases to Shirati will also meet us at the airport. We won't have room for them as we will begin a two and a half day Safari through the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti Game Reserve on Friday morning, arriving in Shirati on Sunday evening, August 11, in time for supper. |
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